If your bedroom has no spare wall for a TV unit, a wardrobe or a chest of drawers, a TV bed with ottoman storage solves two problems in one footprint. The television lifts out of the footboard when you want it and disappears when you do not, while the base opens on gas struts to give you a deep storage well for bedding, suitcases and out of season clothes. Nothing needs to be fixed to a wall, and nothing extra needs to stand against one.<\/p>\n
That combination is why we often suggest our modern TV beds UK<\/a> range to people living with sloping ceilings, wide windows, radiators under every useful surface or rooms where the doorway, window and chimney breast leave almost no straight run of plaster. Below, we look at how to judge whether an ottoman TV bed suits your room, what to check before you order and how to make the most of the space it frees up.<\/p>\n Plenty of British bedrooms look generous on a floor plan but behave like box rooms once you try to furnish them. Victorian terraces often have a chimney breast taking up one wall and a bay window taking up another. Loft conversions bring sloping ceilings that make tall furniture impossible along the eaves. New builds tend to place radiators, sockets and doors in ways that break walls into short sections. In flats, a wall of glazing can look wonderful and still leave you with nowhere to put a dresser.<\/p>\n When the walls are spoken for, the floor area under the bed becomes the most valuable storage you have. A conventional bed frame wastes that space or leaves it to dusty boxes. An ottoman base turns it into a single, enclosed compartment that runs almost the full length and width of the mattress. Adding a TV mechanism into the footboard means you do not need a separate stand or a bracket drilled into a wall that may not take one.<\/p>\n There are two separate mechanisms to understand. The first is the TV lift, which sits inside the footboard. A motor raises the screen on a vertical bracket when you press a button on a remote or a wired control, then lowers it back into the housing so the footboard looks like any other upholstered panel. Most units take a flat screen within a set size range, so the screen you own already, or plan to buy, needs to fit the internal dimensions of the footboard.<\/p>\n The second mechanism is the ottoman lift. Gas struts on each side of the base hold the mattress platform and let it rise smoothly, usually hinged at the headboard end so the platform tilts up from the foot. On some designs the platform lifts from the side instead. Either way, you lift the mattress and slats together and the storage well is exposed in one go, rather than through separate drawers.<\/p>\n Because both systems share the same frame, the bed is heavier and more substantial than a standard divan. That is a good thing for stability but worth remembering when you plan where it will sit and how it will come up the stairs.<\/p>\n Drawer storage needs clear floor space beside or in front of the bed so the drawers can open fully. In a narrow room, that is often the very space you do not have. An ottoman lift opens upwards, so it works even when the bed sits close to a wall or wardrobe door. You only need headroom above the mattress, which almost every bedroom has.<\/p>\n The trade off is access. Drawers suit things you reach for daily, such as socks or nightwear. An ottoman suits things you use weekly or seasonally: spare duvets, winter coats, luggage, gift wrap, children's outgrown clothes waiting to be passed on. If you need daily storage as well, a slim chest beside the bed or a narrow cabinet can cover it. Our selection of modern bedroom furniture UK<\/a> includes compact pieces that sit comfortably alongside a larger bed without crowding it.<\/p>\n A TV bed is larger than its mattress size suggests, because the footboard houses the lift and the headboard is usually substantial. Measure the full external footprint of any model you are considering and mark it on the floor with masking tape. Then walk around it. You want to be able to get in and out of bed on at least one side without turning sideways, and you want any door, window or wardrobe to open without catching the frame.<\/p>\n Next, check the height you need above the bed for the ottoman platform to lift. Under a sloping ceiling, the head end of the bed may be fine while the foot end is tight, or the reverse. Measure at the point where the platform will be at its highest.<\/p>\n Finally, think about viewing distance. With the screen at the foot of the bed, the distance from the footboard to your pillows is fixed by the frame itself. That suits most screen sizes that fit inside the footboard.<\/p>\n Ottoman TV beds arrive in several parts, typically the headboard, side rails, footboard with the TV lift, the platform and the slats. The footboard is the bulkiest single piece. If your home has a narrow staircase with a tight turn, check the dimensions of that component and compare them with the tightest point of your route. This is easy to overlook in older terraces and converted flats where stairs turn sharply at the top.<\/p>\n An ottoman base is only useful if you can find things inside it. A few habits make a real difference:<\/p>\n If you store a lot of clothing, consider whether a freestanding piece could take the overflow somewhere else in the home, such as a landing. A tall, narrow chest of drawers UK sale<\/a> option can sometimes fit into an alcove that a wardrobe never would.<\/p>\n One question we hear often is where bedside essentials go when the bed itself sits against a window or under a slope. A compact cabinet with a single drawer and a shelf will hold a lamp, a book, glasses and a charger without needing to be tall. Floating shelves are another route, but they require fixing, which brings us back to the problem of limited wall. Freestanding pieces tend to be the simpler answer.<\/p>\n Look for cabinets with a narrow depth so they do not protrude past the side of the bed, and choose a finish that ties in with the upholstery of the frame. Our modern bedside cabinets UK<\/a> collection includes slim designs that suit rooms like these. For help working out the measurements, our article on choosing a bedside cabinet for a small UK room<\/a> walks through the heights and widths that tend to work, and our guide to fitting a chest of drawers into a small UK bedroom<\/a> covers the larger pieces.<\/p>\n In rooms without a clear headboard wall, the bed can sometimes sit with its head against a window, provided the headboard is lower than the sill or the curtains can still close behind it. Radiators are trickier. Placing a bed directly against a radiator restricts heat output and can warm the upholstery more than is comfortable. If the radiator is the only option, leave a small gap and consider a radiator shelf to deflect warm air upwards.<\/p>\n Under a sloping ceiling, put the headboard on the lower side only if you can sit up comfortably. Many people find it better to run the bed parallel to the slope so the higher part of the ceiling sits over the middle of the mattress. Because the TV rises from the foot, you also need to check the screen will clear the ceiling at full height.<\/p>\n A TV bed is a large object, and in a room with little wall space it becomes the main visual anchor. Lighter neutrals such as stone, oatmeal and soft grey help it recede and make the room feel calmer. Deeper tones like charcoal or navy can look smart but tend to dominate in a compact space unless the walls are equally deep.<\/p>\n Textured fabrics hide everyday marks better than flat weaves. If the bed sits in a sunny spot beneath a window, choose a colour that will not show fading as quickly, and draw curtains or blinds during the brightest part of the day.<\/p>\n Once the bed is in place, the TV lift quietly changes how the room feels. With the screen lowered, there is no black rectangle on the wall and no stand gathering cables. That matters in a room where every surface already has a job. Keep the remote in the bedside drawer and route the power cable along the frame towards the nearest socket. Check where your sockets are before deciding which way the bed will face, as an extension lead trailing across the floor undoes much of the tidiness you are aiming for.<\/p>\n If you already own a TV, confirm its width, height and weight against the lift specification. If you are buying a new screen, choose it after the bed so you know exactly what will fit.<\/p>\n It is worth considering if your walls are broken up by windows, slopes, radiators or doors, if you have nowhere to put a TV stand, and if you need somewhere to keep bulky items out of sight. It is less suited to rooms where the staircase cannot take a large footboard, or where you would prefer daily access storage over seasonal storage.<\/p>\nWhy some bedrooms simply run out of wall<\/h3>\n
How an ottoman TV bed actually works<\/h3>\n
Ottoman lift or drawers: which suits a tight room<\/h3>\n
Measuring before you choose<\/h3>\n
Getting it into the room<\/h3>\n
Making the most of the storage well<\/h3>\n
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Bedside storage when there is no wall to lean on<\/h3>\n
Placing the bed when walls are scarce<\/h3>\n
Choosing upholstery and colour for a small, busy room<\/h3>\n
Living with the TV in the footboard<\/h3>\n
Is an ottoman TV bed the right answer for your room<\/h3>\n